Bullies of Teen Suicide Reprimanded with "Minimum of Suspension"

In September Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old gay teen, committed suicide in upstate New York after years of apparent bullying. This might have been a blip on the local news radar if it hadn’t caught the eye of Lady Gaga, who mourned Jamey’s death on Twitter and used the experience to promote her anti-bullying campaign.

It’s a sad fact, but without this kind of celebrity attention putting Williamsville North High School under the spotlight for its students’ cruelty, there would not have been an investigation launched into the kids who tormented Jamey.
After all, how often do police get called in to root out high school bullies? The official report concluded that at least five instances of bullying had occurred, and a student was suspended earlier this year after telling a friend that she was glad that Jamey was dead.

An internal investigation by the Williamsville Central School District also identified several of Jamey’s harassers and claim that the individuals will face “a minimum of suspensions.” Superintendent Scott Martzloff and the police have refused to identify how many students will be punished, or what their sentencing will be, but because of the young age of everyone involved, “expulsion is not an option.”

Do you think that suspension is a just punishment for Jamey’s bullies? Is there anything else schools can do after the fact to deal with young teens who have been accused of bullying? Should they face jail time, or is this just “kids being (mean) kids?” Let us know your thoughts in the comments, or via email.

Comments

Clearly, the parents of these bullies should also be held responsible since they are the ones TEACHING their children to not tolerate anyone who is different than them. Although not a huge fan of GaGa……BRAVO to her to standing up and getting involved. I have two daughters who have been bullied for not having the right hair style, clothes, or driving the right car.

As soon as bullying ceases to be a news story, adults will resume their policy of ignoring it. The kids will resume suffering in silence, and very few suicides will become known to the general public. The most gullible people will say, “Gee, I’m glad we took care of that. We don’t even hear about bullying anymore! Must have done something right!” It’s pathetic. My heart goes out to all of the kids who suffer with this. Many of the adults who should be taking action are just waiting for the scandals to blow over, and the scandals will blow over someday.